


It started with a spark

by creamy_nuggets



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), dan and phil
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Dan Howell/Phil Lester, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-04-22 21:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14317953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creamy_nuggets/pseuds/creamy_nuggets
Summary: Dan and Phil are in university and neighbors. One night Phil needs an emergency ride to campus, and Dan’s motor bike looks v appealing





	1. More than an aquaintence

**Author's Note:**

> Yo peeps. So I have a vague idea of what I want in this fic and I can promise it’ll be v fluffy and there’s definitely eventual smut. Still deciding whether I want angst though, so look forward to that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)

I sighed as I heard my phone go off in the living room. I ran out of the kitchen, stuffing my face with another fistful of cereal.  
“Wallo?” I greeted with a full mouth.  
“Phil?!” a panicked voice shouted. “Phil, come to campus! Hurry!”  
I frowned, “Miley? What’s wrong? What happened?”  
“The rocket, Phil! It... it blew up, I don’t know what to do, please hurry!”  
My blood suddenly ran cold, my heart stopping. “No...” I whispered. “How-“  
“There’s no time Phil, just hurry, please,” Miley said, sounding close to tears. I heard a loud bang in the background, and winced.  
“I’ll be right there, just call 999,” I said, already rushing to wear my shoes. Miley grunted and hung up.  
I hurried out of my apartment, finding it hard to think. I ran into the street looking for a cab when I realised my problem. It was 1:30am and there was no one on the road. I wanted to cry standing there, shivering. My heart was already beating overtime, but now I was positively anxious.  
A sudden giggle from behind me distracted my thoughts.  
“Bye babe,” A deep voice said. I turned around to find Dan, my neighbour, embracing a petite blonde.  
“Bye Dan,” she greeted in a sultry high voice.  
I stood there, suddenly feeling awkward, trying to seem as innocuous as possible.  
I turned back around to face the street and saw my solution. Dan’s motorbike was standing parked by the side of the road, looking very much like my potential chariot.  
“Hey mate, what’s up? It’s a bit late for you to be out isn’t it?” Dan asked as the blonde started to walk away. I turned to face him, wondering how I was going to do this.  
“Oh hi! Huh yeah, it’s a bit of an emergency... But, you know, none of-“ my phone interrupted me, ringing out loudly in the quiet street. I quickly answered it.  
“Phil where are you?! The fire’s getting worse, I’ve tried to call Professor Warner, but he isn’t answering, what do I do?!” she said quickly. I could hear the panic in her voice, knowing she was probably crying. My feelings resonated hers.  
“Hey Miley listen, it’s fine, don’t worry. Have you called 999?” I asked, trying to be logical about this.  
“I have, but they’re not here yet. But I don’t want to handle them alone,” she insisted.  
“I’ll be there in a moment, don’t worry,” I assured. “Just try call Warner again.”  
“Ok... ok I’ll do that,” she replied and hung up hastily.  
“Is everything ok?” Dan asked, worried.  
“Well, um... no,” I replied, starting to shiver again. “Hey, can I ask for a huge favor?”  
“You want a ride?” Dan asked. My eyes widened and I nodded. “No problem, come on.”  
Dan sauntered to his bike and got on, his ripped jeans stretching as he settled. I heard the rumble of the vehicle and Dan nodded to the passenger seat. I got on, suddenly nervous. I’d never actually ridden a bike before, and suddenly I felt scared. Or maybe it was the fact that the project I’d been working on for over 2 years was currently burning down.  
“Where are we going?” Dan asked. I shivered again.  
“Campus, physics block,” I answered. Dan was also a student at Hillstead university, I wasn’t sure what major though...  
The bike started moving with a jerk, and I jumped. My hands instinctively clamped around Dan’s waist. I hoped that was fine with him, because there was no way I was moving them. Especially not when I was so close to falling to my death.  
We barreled down the road, the cold wind brushing past us, tickling my nose into sneezing. I moved my head as close to Dan as possible, trying to capture the heat that radiated from his body. My nose was almost nuzzling his curly hair, but I tried my best to maintain a ‘not awkward’ distance. And it was probably my panic stricken brain, but all I could think about was how good his hair smelt.  
Eventually we arrived at the campus gates, and the moment we turned for the physics block, I noticed the fire on the terrace of the building.  
I felt Dan jerk from the shock, even I was surprised at the scene. I saw Miley standing at the door of the building, holding a fire extinguisher that seemed huge compared to her tiny frame.  
I hurried to jump off the motorbike and ran towards her.  
“Are you ok?” I gasped the moment I reached her. She turned to me and nodded, tears streaking down her face.  
“I’m fine... But the rocket, Phil? It won’t survive this...” she shook her head mournfully.  
My heart thumped loudly, making it difficult to hear much. I felt such a pang of sorrow at Miley’s words, like a part of myself was being cut off.  
Distance sirens caught my attention. I suppose 999 finally decided to show up...  
I turned around to find Dan leaning against his bike, staring at the flames as they licked away at the remains of our rocket. He seemed to be mesmerized, and when I looked up at the fire, I understood why.  
Fire was the definition of beautiful destruction. And somehow I was able to hate it and admire it at the same time.  
“We’ll build it again,” I said to Miley. She looked at me with remorseful eyes.  
“How, Phil? We’re graduating in a year, there’s not enough time,” she said hopelessly.  
“It doesn’t matter. We know what mistakes we made, and now we can fix them. It won’t take that much time since we know what the do now,” I insisted. She sighed.  
“Yeah, ok. We can try, I guess,” she said quietly.  
The sirens suddenly became loud, and three cars and a fire truck pulled up to the building. The teams immediately got into action, throwing sand bags and managing the fire. A woman came up to us, clip board and pen in hand.  
“I need a statement from both of you,” she said with stern voice. I nodded, preparing myself for a long night.  
***  
It was around 9:00am and Miley and I had just finished going through the remains of the rocket, trying to scavenge for the more important and expensive parts. Luckily not everything had burnt down, the only affected parts were close to the fuel tank.  
“We should go talk to Warner,” Miley said. I nodded.  
All I actually wanted to do now was go home and take a hot bath. I was covered in soot and my eyes kept closing at random times because of the lack of sleep.  
“Maybe later? I mean, I don’t think we’ll get much done while running on 0 hours of sleep,” I shrugged. Miley sighed and rubbed her eyes.  
“Are you going home now?” she asked.  
“Might as well. At least it’s a holiday this week,” I said and we started walking out of the room. As we walked out, I noticed Dan standing there by his bike. I said bye to Miley and ran to him.  
“Hey Dan,” I greeted as I neared him. He looked up from his phone, and smiled.  
“Hey, how are you?” he asked, but not in the ‘polite’ way, more in the ‘you’ve just gone through a lot, how are you holding up’ kind of way.  
“Meh... I could do with some sleep,” I shrugged.  
“I understand. Sorry I had to leave last night, I should’ve helped but I felt kinda redundant,” he explained. I just chuckled and shook my head.  
“Don’t worry about it,” I brushed it off.  
“Anyway, I’m here to offer you a ride home. Thought you might need it,” he shrugged and got onto his bike. I thanked him and got on behind him, again bracing myself.  
As he drove, I couldn’t help but wonder what suddenly made him want to help me. In the past, we’d hardly even spoken besides the polite ‘hi’ ‘hello’ in the hallway. And now here I was, sitting close behind him, hands on his waist, nose in his hair.  
I inhaled his smell, getting light headed from the sweetness of it. Did he even know how good he smelt?  
Eventually Dan pulled up to our main door.  
“Thanks for the ride,” I said as I got off, reluctantly detaching my nose from hair. Was this weird? It was probably weird...  
As soon as I stood however, my head seemed to collapse on itself. I felt dizzy and my knees buckled. My hands flailed out, grabbing at whatever it could hold to stop me from collapsing.  
Arms grabbed my waist and held me up.  
“Hey hey hey, careful there,” Dan’s voice whispered. He sounded strained, like he was struggling to hold my weight up.  
I blinked and cleared my head, carefully lifting myself up.  
“You should probably sleep,” Dan suggested.  
“No shit, Sherlock,” I breathed out. Dan snorted, smiling softly.  
“Come on let’s go inside,” he said and led the way. We arrived at the doors to our respective appartements (which were coincidentally opposite each other), and I felt around in my pocket for my keys.  
“Please no,” I whispered frantically.  
“What’s wrong?” Dan asked.  
I sighed in frustration. “I think I left my keys inside last night,” I sighed.  
Dan’s eyes filled with mirth, “Wow, this is really not your time, is it? Come in, you can chill here while I call the landlord.”  
My eyes widened. I wasn’t able to comprehend how much Dan was helping me. In the last 12 hours, he’d given me a lift twice and now he was inviting me to stay in his house. I mean, I understand we’re just victims of circumstance, but still.  
Dan’s appartement was a mirror image of mine, except the walls were covered in posters.  
“I’ll just text the landlord, hang on,” Dan said as he fiddled around on his phone. I took the opportunity to examine his posters.   
“You like anime?!” I asked, excited.  
Dan nodded, “Yep.”  
“What’s your favorite?” I asked, curiously. He settled down into his couch, thinking. I sat down next to him.  
“I really like Free, but my favorite is probably Yuri on Ice,” he thought. I chuckled and nodded.  
“Mine too, probably,” I agreed.  
For the next hour we spoke about anime, and lots of other things. Turns out we have a lot in common, anime, music, tv shows.  
Eventually the landlord called Dan, “Morning Mr. Foster,” he greeted him. “Yes that’s right. No problem. Yes of course-“  
I closed my eyes, letting Dan take care of it. After what felt like centuries, I was finally able to catch a bit of sleep. I felt my body relax into Dan’s couch, and my head became cloudy.  
“...phil, phil wake up. Phiiiiiil. Philly. Phillip.”  
“Msleepy,” I mumbled to the insistent voice trying to wake me up.  
“I know, but if you sleep on this couch you’re gonna wake up with a sore back and that’s probably the last thing you need,” dan reasoned. My groggy brain could only get the gist of what he was saying, and I nodded. But didn’t move. Dan sighed. “By the way, Mr. Foster is out of town right now, so you’ll have to stay here a couple of days.”  
This caught my attention, and i blinked my eyes open.  
“Wot?” I asked in a sleepy voice.  
“Uh huh. You’re stuck with me till Wednesday mate. At least we’re on holiday this week,” he grinned. I snorted softly.  
“What’s the time?” I asked as I yawned the sleep out of my system.  
“Around 2? You’ve been sleeping for a while...” Dan said.  
“Not enough,” I complained with a smile.  
“Is it ever,” Dan replied, chuckling.  
“Well, since I’m staying here, could I have a quick shower?” I asked. Dan nodded.  
“I’ve kept clothes and everything in the bathroom,” he informed me. I thanked him, and headed to the bathroom to finally get rid of all the grime from last night. For some reason, I got the feeling that the next four days were going to be a lot more eventful than I’d planned. And I couldn’t help but be excited.


	2. Lunch, parties and deadlines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally. Im really sorry it took so long guys, I’m quite sure school has a vendetta against me... Anyway, enjoy!

I emerged from the bathroom smelling like Dan. Who smelt of ‘Citrus and Aloe’ apparently. Even his clothes smelt of it. Surprisingly, a guy who rides on a motorcycle in leather jackets and ripped jeans also apparently owned a really adorable Totoro t-shirt. And star-wars boxers.  
“Are you hungry?!” Dan shouted from the kitchen.  
My stomach promptly growled and I shouted back, “Starving!”  
I made my way to the kitchen, sniffing as I went.  
“Whatever you’re making smells amazing,” I said as I entered the room. Dan looked up from what looked like pasta and grinned.  
“Thanks. I like to think of myself as a good cook,” he chuckled.  
“Gordon Ramsey would be proud,” I joked.  
“Can you grab two plates for us? They’re in that cupboard,” he said pointing. Eventually we gathered our lunch and left the kitchen.  
“Do you wanna watch something while we eat?” Dan asked.  
“Sure, what do you have?” I replied as we settled into his couch.  
“Have you heard of Black mirror?” he asked.  
“Hell yes! It’s epic,” I laughed.  
“I know right?! And it’s terrifying when you realize that we’re basically all headed to our dooms...” he mused.  
We began watching, eating in silence as we both got engrossed in the show.  
Dan was pretty cool while watching shows. He wasn’t the ‘be quiet and don’t talk in case I miss a line’ or a ‘I’m gonna talk throughout the episode and keep making sarcastic comments in an attempt to be funny’. He was the ‘Imma comment on a specific thing that I feel is important and i don’t mind if you do the same’ kinda guy. Basically, he was comfortable.  
As the episode ended, Dan stood up. “Want more?” he asked, nodding towards my plate.  
I grinned, “I’d be stupid to say no.”  
He smiled and _oh my word he has dimples._  
I mean... yeah. Dimples. Not a big deal, right? And totally not something to get insanely excited about.  
I followed Dan to the kitchen, trying my best to erase the image of him smiling at me from my mind.  
“So what are you gonna do about the rocket?” Dan asked as he dished up. I sighed, leaning against the wall.  
“I don’t know mate... I really hope we can rebuild it. We don’t have the funds right now to repair what’s damaged, but I think in about 6 months we should get it. I’ve been working on this project for 2 years, I’m not willing to part with it yet,” I explained. He hummed in response, nodding.  
“Makes sense. Is it for an assignment?” He asked.  
“Not really. The design started off as an assignment, but building it was just for the sake of it...” I shrugged.  
“Wow, ok... I like the whole ‘let’s build a rocket for the sake of it’ vibe you have going on here,” he chuckled.  
We ended up having the rest of our lunch in the kitchen, talking. At about 4:30 Dan’s phone started buzzing.  
“Sorry, just a second,” he excused himself. I nodded, and made myself busy with cleaning up the kitchen. If I was going to be here for three days, I might as well be useful.  
“...so I dont think I’ll be able to make it,” I heard Dan saying to whoever had called. “Yeah, maybe, I’ll ask... Cool bye.”  
Dan walked in, “Hey Phil, do you wanna join me at a party tonight?”  
I nodded, “Sure.”  
“Great! It’ll be really fun, I promise,” he assured.  
I chuckled, “I’ll take your word for it.”

* * *

The party was definitely not what I expected. While there was alcohol, there wasn’t a sweaty dance floor with music so loud you couldn’t here yourself. It was very chill, and Dan’s friends were really cool.  
Chris, a hyper active ‘party animal’, kept daring people to eat dry flour and lick the dustbin.  
It came to a point where Dan whispered to me, “If he doesn’t stop, I’ll shove his face into the dustbin.”  
To which I replied, “I dare you.”  
Wrong thing to say apparently, because Chris immediately shouted, “I heard the word ‘daaare’!” And then proceeded to drag me off the couch towards the dustbin. Thankfully he was drunk enough for me to wrestle him onto an armchair. I wasn’t surprised when he immediately began snoring.  
“All hail Philip Lester for saving us from the evil Chrisinator,” Dan’s friend Louise announced from the couch. I chuckled, and settled back next to Dan.  
“Let’s play a game!” I proposed. Dan looked at me funny.  
“What, like a party game? Phil, we’re not 12!” Dan chuckled.  
“But we can be! Come on, it’ll be fun!” I insisted.  
“I agree! Don’t be a spoil sport Dan,” Adam said as he entered the room. Dan huffed.  
“Fiiine,” he reluctantly agreed.  
The four of us sat around the central table, getting cozy in bean bags with our respective drinks in hand.  
“Ok, simple truth or dare, and if you want to forfeit, you take a sip. Cool?” I asked. Everyone nodded.  
“Me first,” Dan announced. “Adam, truth or dare?”  
“Dare,” he smirked. He did seem like the ‘living on the edge’ kinda guy.  
“Ok... Scroll through your camera roll and show us what you think is the most incriminating thing you have,” Dan dared. Adam‘s eyes narrowed, but did as he was told.  
“Oo no,” Adam’s eyes widened as he selected a picture. “Oh... the irony...”  
And then he showed us a picture of him and the blonde I’d seen Dan with on the night of the fire.  
“Woah, is that Soph?” Dan asked, eyes wide as well.  
“Yep,” Adam admitted. Everyone laughed.  
“...Soph?” I inquired.  
“Chris’s sister. He’s really protective of her, and she keeps making a move on all his friends. Apparently that includes both Adam and me,” Dan answered. I snorted. Of course Chris would have a sister as insane as him.  
But even so, I couldn’t ignore the feeling of heaviness inside me. Like there was a whirlpool all of a sudden. I felt sort of jealous...  
“Your turn Adam!” Louise announced before I could give more thought to the matter.  
“Phil, truth or dare?” He asked.  
Me being me, I answered, “Truth.”  
“Great! You got a girlfriend? Boyfriend? Crush?” he asked. Probably the most generic question, and yet I felt like I didn’t have an answer. Especially the ‘crush’ part.  
I simply answered, “No relationships at the moment.”  
Dan’s eyebrows lifted. “Relationships? And crushes?” he asked. I couldn’t help a blush, and Dan noticed.  
Smirking, he asked, “Do I know them?”  
I could hear my heart beating. “Maybe, maybe not,” I answered vaguely.  
“That’s not an answer!” he insisted. “Is it that girl from the rocket thing?”  
I shook my head, desperately hoping he’d drop the topic.  
“Ok ok, is it a he or a she?” Adam asked.  
“Only one question a truth!” I announced. Everyone groaned.  
“This isn’t the end of this, Philly,” Dan warned. I smiled sweetly. He stuck his tongue out. _Oh my god his tongue, help me someone._  
“My turn,” I said. “Dan, truth or dare?”  
“Ugh, ok. Truth,” Dan answered.  
“Um... what’s your honest opinion of me?” I asked. Risky, but I wanted to know.  
“Woah, ok...” he looked towards the ceiling. “You’re very happy, as a person. Very colorful. Or you were, before you had to wear my clothes,” he chuckled. “But I’m gonna be honest, you look hella good in black.” His voice seemed to deepen, but that must’ve been my imagination. He sat up straighter, his eyes meeting mine. “You’re very fun to talk to, and really, I wonder why we hadn’t become friends earlier.” I smiled at that, wondering the same thing. “You have really pretty eyes. I can’t really tell what colour they are though. Blue? Green? Bluish green? And your hair is perfe—“  
“Okay there Romeo, calm down,” Adam interrupted. I blinked, having forgotten there were others in the room. I coughed awkwardly, and Dan seemed to blush. Right.  
Dan smoothly asked Louise a question, immediately diverting attention away from what had just happened.  
What _had_ just happened? Did Dan feel like I did? How did _I_ feel?  
I didn’t know, but I guess I had a few days to figure it out...  
Eventually Adam fell asleep, and the game became a bit boring. Dan and I decided it was a good time to head back, so after sending Adam and Chris to their respective bedrooms, we left. 

* * *

We stumbled off the bike, sleep overpowering our movements.  
“Tonight was really fun,” I told Dan as he unlocked our door.  
“I know right? It’s actually been a while since we all met up. We haven’t had this much fun is ages!” he laughed.  
Suddenly my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was Professor Warner. “Hello,” I greeted.  
“Hi son, it’s Warner here. I heard about the rocket,” he said sadly.  
I sighed, following Dan into his flat. “Yeah, it was quite a disaster... We think the fuel tank had a leak in it. Thankfully we hadn’t filled it up completely, so the damage wasn’t as bad as we initially thought,” I told him. Dan tapped my arm and motioned that he was going to the bathroom. I nodded and thumbs upped him.  
“You’re lucky about that, eh. I’ve spoken to the institute, and they’re willing to fund the repairs for the damage,” he informed me. I sucked in a breath. This felt like it was too good to be true.  
“Really?! No way! That’s great!”  
“Don’t get too excited though. They want the rocket done in one week, or you’ll need to pay back all the money,” he said matter of factly.  
Right... so it _was_ too good to be true.  
“Sir, that’s not possible,” I muttered. One week? It took us two years to get where we were. One week was impossible. I heard Warner sigh.  
“Try son. I’ve told Miley, she’ll be at the site from tomorrow, so meet her there if you can. Good luck son, I hope you make it,” he remarked, and hung up.  
Easy for him to say, he wasn’t the one building it, I thought angrily.  
Dan came out of the bathroom, staring at me.  
“What’s happened?” He asked.  
I sighed. “I have one week to rebuild the rocket, or I’ll have to pay for the repairs.”  
“Damn. That sounds really bad. Are you going down there tomorrow?” he inquired. I nodded.  
“I’ll probably be living there for the next week,” I joked, smiling a humourless smile.  
“That means you’ll be really tired. So you better get a good night’s sleep tonight. You can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch,” he stated. My eyebrows rose, and I shook my head.  
“No, no way! I’m the one invading your house, there’s no way I’m taking over your bed too!” I insisted. Dan shook his head, adamant.  
“You’re the guest, and you have a long week ahead,” he argued.  
“Dan, this couch is tiny and you’re a 6 foot tall giant, you won’t get a moment’s sleep on there.”  
“What about you? You’re just as tall,” he added. I sighed. We were stuck in a rut and neither of us had a solution. “Look,” Dan said, “we’re both incredibly tired at the moment, I don’t think either of us will survive a night on the couch. Let’s the share the bed tonight and tomorrow I can fix up an extra camping mattress. Cool?”  
I contemplated it and eventually nodded. One night on a bed with Dan didn’t mean anything. What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if you liked it, or even if you didn’t! Any sort of feedback is helpful! Thank you :)


	3. Breakfast, phone calls and admiration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. AM. SORRY. For the incredible delay. Like seriously. I’m not gonna give you excuses, but just know that I feel bad ok? But this one is pretty longish, if that helps? Please forgive me?  
> Also, I’ve started another fic (Harry Potter) so please check it out! I’ll be updating both of these pretty often, cuz I’m on holiday now so I have loads of time.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

“Is this really necessary?” Phil asked, gesturing to the wall of cushions they were currently making on the bed. “I mean, with this there won’t be any place left for us, we’ll both fall of.”  
Dan sighed, leaning back on his heals. He contemplated what Phil had just said.  
“I guess... And well, we’re both mature adults, so really, there shouldn’t be a problem,”  
Dan shrugged with a small smile.  
Phil returned the smile and left to get changed before things became too awkward.

 

They lay side by side, each facing away from the other. Phil closed his eyes, relaxing his body. He tried his best to sleep, but he couldn’t ignore the warmth radiating from Dan. He was like a furnace.  
Phil wasn’t used to sleeping in the same bed as another person. He’d been alone for most of his life. Even though he wasn’t a virgin by any means, he hadn’t ever laid in a bed innocently with another person. It was weird, and yet... confortable. Reassuring.  
Eventually, a shallow sleep took over Phil. He’d always been a light sleeper, waking up at the smallest noise. So when some time during the night he heard rustles and mumbles, he couldn’t help waking up.  
Phil’s eyes opened, and he turned to find Dan shivering and mumbling something in his sleep. His eyebrows were frowned, and his face looked like he was in pain. A single tear rolled down the side of his face.  
Frowning, Phil shook him, “Dan?” he whispered, trying to wake him.  
Dan didn’t react, but his mumbling became louder, and his hand flew out, hitting Phil in the gut.  
Groaning, Phil’s foggy brain realised that Dan was having a nightmare. Phil shuffled closer to him, placing a hand over his face. “Shhh, you’re okay,” he mumbled. Dan’s face was cold with sweat, and Phil moved his warm palm over both cheeks to warm them up. “Shh, Dan, it’s ok, you’re ok,” Phil whispered continuously.  
Eventually Dan relaxed, and the mumbling became softer. Phil lay closer to him and wrapped his arm around Dan’s torso. And like that, they fell asleep.

 

Dan groaned, snuggling closer into his pillow. It was weirdly warm, making Dan sigh into it. A few minutes later, he suddenly became aware of a thumping coming from his pillow. _What the heck_ , Dan thought.  
He squinted his eyes open, and quickly hid his face from the light. He felt his pillow moving, just slightly. Dan’s sleepy mind immediately cleared, and he realised his head was lying in the crook of Phil’s neck. The ‘slight movement’ must have been Phil swallowing.  
Shit, he thought. He desperately hoped Phil wasn’t awake.  
Dan slowly lifted his head and looked up. Phil was staring down at him, eyes wide. Well there went his hopes out the window.  
Dan cleared his throat. “Uh... I’ll just...” he started, but got distracted by Phil’s gaze. They were piercingly blue, even when slightly hazy from sleep. Dan blinked, looking away. “I’ll go shower,” he said quickly and rolled out of bed. Once his feet hit the floor, he practically ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He leaning back against it, taking deep breaths to calm his embarrassment.  
When had he started snuggling into Phil? Did he wake Phil with it?  
_Why do I have to be so damn awkward_ , Dan thought. He rubbed his warming face, hoping to erase the embarrassment. Is it possible to cringe at your past self from two minutes ago? Cuz he just did that.  
Huffing, he brushed his teeth. Staring at his face in the mirror, he saw a tear mark on it.  
His eyes widened and he remembered the nightmare the night before. He remembered the reassuring voice. While he wasn’t able to understand what it was saying, the calming effect was still their. Dan remembered how his nightmare faded off, for once not getting to the dreadful part it always did.  
_It was Phil_ , Dan suddenly realised. The calming, reassuring voice was Phil. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he knew that he was grateful for his neighbour turn roommate.

 

“What do you mean you can’t come?!” Phil asked outrageously into his phone. They were sitting at the table, having just finished breakfast. “Dude, do you realise we literally have a week? A week to build an entire rocket,” he reminded Miley.  
Dan watched as he went silent, listening to whatever Miley was saying. And then he rolled his eyes.  
“Wait, so you’re abandoning your two year project that’s due in a week because your boyfriend’s cat died? Do you hear yourself?”  
Dan sighed, picking up both their plates and putting them in the sink. He was glad his law degree didn’t require any group projects.  
“You know what, fine, whatever. But don’t crib when we need to pay for the damages,” Phil declared angrily and hung up. He was fuming, Dan could practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.  
“Ya know, I don’t have anything to do today, so if you have anything I can help with, don’t mind asking,” Dan disclaimed. Phil looked up at him, offering a small smile.  
“Thanks mate. For now I just need a ride to campus.”

 

Phil let the wind hitting his face blow away his frustrations about Miley. The motorbike ride gave him enough time to think and clear his mind. The project had started off with four people. But the other two had eventually left them when they thought it wasn’t going to work out. That left Miley and him. He’d always thought they were a team, and her decision today felt unfair. But he would manage. He had to. As long as she didn’t do the same thing tomorrow, he’d survive.  
They arrived at the site, and Phil climbed off the bike.  
“Mind if I join you?” Dan asked.  
Phil shrugged, smiling. “Not at all, come on. A quick disclaimer though, you’ll be mighty bored,” Phil warned.  
“Nah, never a dull moment with you,” Dan declared, laughing.  
Phil led the way to the burnt rocket, heading to where the most damage had happened.  
“I’m gonna make an inventory of everything that we need,” Phil told him. “You can play some music if you want, this might take a while.”  
They spent the next two hours doing exactly that. They also spoke about some stuff, but Dan didn’t want to disturb Phil, so he left the conversation to a minimum.  
Finally, Phil announced, “Alright, we’re done! Now we just need to go get the stuff.”  
“We going on the bike?” Dan asked. Phil nodded.  
“Thanks, by the way. You’re saving me a lot of time that I would have wasted on walking,” Phil said gratefully. Dan smiled at him.  
“I told you, I have nothing else to do.”  
“What’s your course?” Phil asked, curious as to which course was so relaxed.  
“Law,” Dan answered. Phil looked at him, surprised.  
“Isn’t that really difficult?” he asked. Dan nodded. “How are you so chill?”  
“Actually, the thing is... I’ve been thinking of dropping out,” Dan admitted. Phil frowned.  
“Why?” he asked.  
“I don’t enjoy it. At all. Beside, I have this YouTube thing, and it’s sort of taking off. I wanna focus on that more,” he explained. Phil nodded slowly.  
They walked the rest of the way to the bike in silence, each absorbed in their thinking. Before getting on, Phil’s paused. “Does this mean I’m currently flat-mates with a future famous person?” Phil asked with a smirk. Dan laughed.  
“I desperately hope so,” he replied.

 

“Thank you,” Phil said to the cashier and lifted his box of parts off the counter. It was extremely heavy, and he struggled to walk straight with it.  
Dan was waiting outside for him, not wanting to go into the too dark mechanic shop. “It looks hella dodgy,” he’d told Phil, who had just laughed and shaken his head.  
And now he was stumbling out, perfectly unharmed. He headed towards the bike. Dan was leaning against it looking like the perfect bad boy in his leather jacket and black jeans. He was talking with someone: a small boy who’s hands were moving very animatedly.  
“Hey,” Phil greeted them, and they turned towards him.  
“Hey, Phil meet Kyle, we just met,” Dan introduced.  
“Hi,” Phil greeted him and set his box down on the bike seat with a grunt.  
“Hi Phil! Dan was telling me that you’re making a rocket?! That’s amazing! I love rockets! Actually, I wanna be an astronaut one day!” he claimed excitedly. His excitement wore off on Phil, who smiled brightly.  
“Really?! That’s great,” he told him. “I’m sure you will!”  
“I hope so! Anyway, I have to go or my mom will get mad! Bye guys!” Kyle greeted and left.  
“He’s adorable,” Phil laughed. Dan looked at him strangely and smiled.  
“Yeah,” he nodded, voice sounding heavy, “he is.”

 

They got back at the site at about 11:30. As Phil got off the bike, Dan’s phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned at the caller ID.  
He answered it. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Phil frowned at how concerned he sounded, not liking that Dan was tense. Phil wanted to run his thumb between his eyebrows and relax the frown there, but he didn’t. He knew that was weird, and after that morning’s unspoken debacle, he didn’t want to sprout anymore awkwardness between them. So he just stood there as Dan continued to look worried.  
Dan sighed into the phone, as though exasperated at whoever he was talking to. “Just... wait there ok? I’m coming,” he told them and hung up. He looked up at Phil apologetically and said, “I need to go somewhere quickly, I’m really sorry.”  
Phil shook his head, brushing off the apology. “Don’t be sorry, it’s fine! Go, I’ll be fine here.”  
Dan smiled at him. “Thanks mate,” he said, and drove off.

 

When Dan came back to campus, Phil was still working on the rocket. He was soldering parts to each other, looking very absorbed in his work. Dan looked from afar, appreciating the view of his friend. He was tall and well built, and the confident way he navigated around the site was quite nice to watch. Not that Dan would admit it to himself, but he found it very attractive.  
Dan checked his watch, noting that it was 18:36. He frowned and walked up to Phil.  
“Hey,” he greeted. Phil jumped, surprised by the sudden greeting.  
“Woah, you scared me,” Phil admitted, eyes wide. Dan chuckled, shaking his head at him.  
“Have you been here all day?” he asked Phil.  
“Uh, well yeah. Where else would I be?” Phil laughed lightly. Dan frowned.  
“Have you even eaten?” he asked, concerned. Phil paused, realisation dawning on his face.  
“Food,” he said nodding. “That’s a thing.”  
Dan sighed, “Phil, please tell me you’ve eaten at least something?”  
Phil gave him a small, guilty smile. “Maybe I haven’t?” he admitted.  
Dan ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, that’s it. You’re done here, pack up, we’re going for dinner,” Dan announced in a tone of finality.  
“Bu—“ Phil tried to argue, but Dan was having none of it.  
“No. Phil, I don’t care how much work you have left. You’ve been working the whole day on an empty stomach, and that’s unacceptable. Put your stuff away and get on the bike,” he ordered.  
“I had breakfast,” Phil said meekly.  
“At eight in the fucking morning,” Dan reminded him.  
“You sound like my mom,” Phil told him as he began packing up.  
“If that gets you to eat, then your mom I’ll be,” Dan decided. Phil grinned softly, looking at Dan. The sun was shining behind him, making him a silhouette. He looked daunting, like the kind of person you’d avoid in a dark alley. But Phil knew him, trusted him even.  
And so, after packing up all his work, Dan and Phil got on the bike and headed for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys! Tell me if you like it please? Or even if you didn’t, that’s cool too...  
> Again, I’m sorry for the delay, but I promise to get them out on time from now!


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